fundraisers

[Blest2BAmerican]

For those of you who do fundraisers, do you use your regular jars and labels on your candles or do you use something different? My regular line is country/prim... I use the 8 oz square mason jars with kraft labels and tie with homespun and hemp string with a hang tag. I was thinking of using a different 9 oz smooth jar with a white or clear label with my regular logo to make the packaging more simple but yet upscale. I also thought by using the 9 oz jar that the school could charge a little bit more to go towards their fundraiser. Actually the fundraiser would be for my daughter's senior class which has to raise $1800-$2000 per student for their senior trip. They go to a different country every year and help build schools, houses, etc.

I also want to have a candle with the school colors. Would it be okay to charge more for that candle or should I scrap that all together?

Thoughts please.

[DebbieTX]

I'll give it a whirl....

Things that I would have done different up front with fundraisers:

1. Dropped the homespun from the candles. I'm thinking of the time I was up until 3 a.m. tearing and tying homespun on 500 candles.

2. Sticky labels move much faster than hang tags.

3. Wish that I would have done a jar that did not require a repour. Pour candle, slap labels on, done.

Took some time but I learned. Too many fundraisers where it just took up too much of my time. The candle part was easy. It was all the other pretty stuff that took too long. Not that you cant get a very nice jar and still have a very nice candle. I really like doing the Status Jars. One pour and your done. Put the label on the bottom and the jars are still upscale looking.

If you charge more for a school themed candle, very unlikely that you will sell that many. When choosing sizes and my customers want to add a small item like a 5 oz jar or car fresheners, I do warn them that with fundraisers, their customers will buy from them, but they will most likely choose the cheapest item they are selling. So, they will have to sell 3-4 x of the small items to equal the profit on the large sized candles.

I use my labels. I get repeat business and it's a great form of advertising. Fundraisers can reach people that I would have never come in contact with.

Good luck!!

[Georgia]

When I did a fundraiser for the HS drama club I put a small round label on the lid with the comedy & drama masks with a paper strip that went around the jar, "Thanks for supporting the SK Drama Club". Everthing else was "as usual". The labels didn't cost much and the paper strips were nothing. (I used all the sticky non-label stuff from the sheets. Cut into squares to hold the paper in place. Pretty quick and definately cheap!) I think there are pics in the gallery.

Like Debbie said, keep it simple. You want it to get big, right?

[sisterkaren]

We also use 8 oz for our fundraisers. To make them a little different we use copper lids instead of our pewter lids and add a small clear label on the back that says " Thank you for supporting ......." We try to keep it simple and not so different that people are used to seeing our label and think of us. Plus with just changing the lid we can pull from our normal stock if we need to . Good luck. Our fundraisers are one of our biggest money makers.

[candlelady]

I only use my regular line, nothing different. At this time, I make 9 oz sq mason, 16 oz sq mason and enamel mug. They can choose what containers they want to sell. If they choose the mug too, I tell them the only color is white. I price them a little higher than my wholesale price.

The very 1st fundraiser I did I used the standard 16oz. mason jar, nothing fancy, gold two piece lid and homespun and my label. Didn't look too bad, but wasn't what I sold. Priced them cheap because they were cheaper to make. Then when the buyers wanted more, they wanted the same jar at the same price. Well.......I don't make those and my regular line was nicer looking, but also a little more $$...and that didn't work for them. So I lost sales.

Afterall you want to use the fundraisers as an advertising tool, so why change your product? Also, when they turn in the order, I pull from my inventory first, then make the rest and a few more to put back on the shelf. That way I can have new stock on my shelves. And I give them about 20 scents to choose from (ones I can easily get from my local supplier or from a supplier I typically order alot from) 6 scents tops. None of my higher priced oils or candles that require two oils to make.

That has worked very well and even get orders from the buyers!

HTH;)

[Blest2BAmerican]

Thank you for some great ideas! I really appreciate everyone's input.